Author
Topic: JT's home oven NY pies (Read 13419 times)

scott123

Screens and pans, as I think you noticed from this last batch, are the kiss of death for good NY pizza undercrusts. Anything between the stone and the crust is going to create a layer of insulation and extend the bake time, and, generally speaking, that's a bad thing.

A bigger peel would be nice, but if you don't have one handy, a lot of things will work in a pinch. Cardboard, thin plywood, a flat cookie sheet, possibly even a well floured pizza pan.

You are absolutely correct on the use of screens for the NY style. However, I believe that some of chickenparm's (Bill's) NY style pizzas that you have admired are based on using a combination of screen and stone. In my oven, if I want to make an 18" pizza, which is one of my all-time favorites, I have no choice but to use a combination of 18" screen and stone. The 18" screen with the dressed pizza on it actually buckles as I press the oven door against it (and I have to actually hold it there until the pizza sets up and I shift it onto the preheated stone), but that is what I have to do to get an 18" pizza. An 18" stone just wouldn't fit (I wouldn't be able to fully close the oven door). I have a 14" x 16" Cordierite stone but using the 18" screen with that can produce reasonable results but not the kind of results you would be looking for for an authentic NY style. No doubt, Chau will experience some of the challenges using his pizza screen to make large NY style pizzas.

Peter you are right about the challenges of the home oven bake and large pies. I was only interested in making a 16" pie after member pizzablogger asked to see me make a large pie and Scott mentioned the lack of members making big pies.

I may try the pizza screen just to learn something new and say that I did, but I'll likely reserve the 16" pizzas for the WFO.

Scott, I'll look around the house to see if I have some materials to make a short handle 16" Peel. But I'm not quite confident about landing a 16" pie perfectly onto a 16" stone.

I wanted to add,I bought a Super(Beta) Peel,Im pretty sure you already know,it can launch 20 inch pies with ease and I have never had a bad launch with it.My original Super peel can barely do a 14 pie without it hanging off the front lip,so I use the larger peel.

So for my 14-15 inch pies launched onto the stone,I use my New Beta peel.Its huge but it does the job until I get a bigger stone and then can launch a max of 18 inch pies,oven limits.I cant wait until I can do that!

Any pie larger than a 15 inch,which is my stones limit, is screen baked,and they work decent,just not always give me the WOW factor launching straight onto the stone does.However,screens will eliminate launch mistakes caused by little room to work with.I still find my larger pies very enjoyable.The crust is a little softer with screens unless you cook past 6 minutes or more,at least in my case,past 6 minutes makes them a little crispier around the edges.

You are absolutely correct on the use of screens for the NY style. However, I believe that some of chickenparm's (Bill's) NY style pizzas that you have admired are based on using a combination of screen and stone.

Actually, Peter, I believe Bill's paradigm (imo) shift from 7-8 minutes to what seems to be his presently preferred 3-5 minute bake (and my ensuing admiration ) was a result of removing the screen from his equation.

Sure, he uses the screen to 'dome' his pie, but that's not what I'm referring to here. My issue is with handicapping the conduction of heat from the stone to the crust by placing the screen in between.

Now, we all have to work with the equipment we have, and, with the equipment you're working with and what you're able to get out of it, you are truly a master, but if someone has the choice between using a screen and not using a screen (and is looking for the best pizza possible), my recommendation is always to lose the screen.

You are absolutely correct on the use of screens for the NY style. However, I believe that some of chickenparm's (Bill's) NY style pizzas that you have admired are based on using a combination of screen and stone. In my oven, if I want to make an 18" pizza, which is one of my all-time favorites, I have no choice but to use a combination of 18" screen and stone. The 18" screen with the dressed pizza on it actually buckles as I press the oven door against it (and I have to actually hold it there until the pizza sets up and I shift it onto the preheated stone), but that is what I have to do to get an 18" pizza. An 18" stone just wouldn't fit (I wouldn't be able to fully close the oven door). I have a 14" x 16" Cordierite stone but using the 18" screen with that can produce reasonable results but not the kind of results you would be looking for for an authentic NY style. No doubt, Chau will experience some of the challenges using his pizza screen to make large NY style pizzas.

Peter

Peter,

You have the same dilemma as myself when it comes to anything larger than 16" or in my case 17". If my stone were even a 1/4" bigger I wouldn't be able to close the oven door, either.

Small world.

Logged

Mike

"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new." - Albert Einstein

Thanks Bill and Dmcavanagh. My 14" wooden Peel is a superpeel and I forgot that I bought the extension kit for 16" pies long ago but have never used it. Thank you for the reminder, I will dig it out now instead of using the screen.

scott123

Oh and btw Scott,you are right,I am loving the stone cooked pies over the screens.I can do shorter bake times and get superior results.Im loving those shorter bake times.

Bill, your experience is fairly typical. Anyone that I've ever known who's gone from 7+ minute bakes to 4-5 has never gone back permanently to 7+. On the other hand, I know lots of folks that go from 4 to <2, only to make the decision to go back to 4. Neapolitan is just not for everyone, while 4 minute NY- that's pretty much universal. Imho, of course

Thanks Bill and Dmcavanagh. My 14" wooden Peel is a superpeel and I forgot that I bought the extension kit for 16" pies long ago but have never used it. Thank you for the reminder, I will dig it out now instead of using the screen.

Once attached, this new peel measures 20" side to side but only 14" front to back. So....how am I suppose to load a 16" round when it's only 14" front to back?

Bill it sounds like you have a regular super peel and a larger one. Is that correct or are you using the extension kit?

Chau

Chau,

I have 2 super peels,the original one and a much larger Super Peel called the Beta Peel.I do not have the extension kit for the original one.

It was called Beta at the time because it was experimental.I have not checked the website recently to see if he is selling the larger Beta Super Peels as of yet.I believe they intended to after production came together.

Here are some pictures to show you the 2 peels.The original super peel sits on top.The Beta is on the bottom.The Beta is HUGE and I love it!

Ditch the shredded mozzarella. Add pieces of fresh mootza-rell like you did on that first pie you made, but place them first on the skin, add sauce, hit it with some pecorino-romano and a little drizzle of extra virgin.

Peep the video starting at 1:40 for a step by step of how it is made:

interesting is that the second pie taken out of the oven of the video appears to be burnt in places on the rim.

Totonno's makes simple and delicious pizzas. The pecorino can be a tad too heavy on some days, but I really like Totonno's. I wish "everyday" pizza was made much more like this than the bull dung 90% of retail joints are selling. Pah!

Chau, I'm willing to bet that your crust would be better than Totonno's, which can be a little dense in the crumb.

Give it a whirl one day if you think about it.

Here's a snap I took of our pie during my last visit to Totonno's. Half of the group I took with me were somewhat pizza newbies and could not fathom ordering just a plain pizza, so half is sausage. Amateurs

That pie looks really good to me Kelly. Thanks for the youtube link. The Totonn's style should be not be that hard to duplicate. I was going to ask you if the sauce was spiced or not but that is covered in the video.

I think I would get a better result in the WFO or even do smaller versions in the LBE, but if I don't have an excuse to fire up soon, I'll definitely do the home oven version next. Thanks for the inspiration.

I was baking in the LBE the other day and liked the dough, so I thought I would toss one in the home oven just to see what I would get. This one is the same dough except it was made with starter and not CY. Here's what I got...